Hamilton's shoulder bruise isn't too bad

Though Bulls guard likely to miss several games, injury not serious

Late Monday night, Joakim Noah pondered the possibility of playing without Richard Hamilton for an extended period again.

"Hopefully he'll get some massages," Noah said of Hamilton's freshly injured shoulder. "We'll call the African spirits to make sure he's all right and back on the court soon."

Turns out, all Hamilton needed was an MRI exam.

Though he likely will miss multiple games in a busy week, the Bulls received more good news than bad on Tuesday. The team is calling the veteran shooting guard day-to-day with a right shoulder bruise and mild sprain, and he traveled on the Bulls' afternoon bus ride to Milwaukee for Wednesday night's game with the Bucks.

Hamilton suffered the injury early in Monday's victory over the Pacers when he slammed into Roy Hibbert and exited for good just 83 seconds after tipoff. He left the locker room with his right arm immobilized, leaving teammates to talk about what his presence means.

"The most important thing is we have him down the stretch healthy," said Ronnie Brewer, his replacement. "We felt positive about him coming back (from groin and thigh injuries) and getting minutes. His shot and conditioning were coming back. He's missed."

And he has missed games, appearing in just 16 because of those nagging groin and thigh issues. Hamilton hasn't played in six straight games yet this season. Monday night marked his fifth straight start after sitting for 13 straight, and he had averaged 6.3 points in 17.8 minutes in his previous four starts.

"We need him to get to where we want to get to," Noah said.

Brewer has played well both starting and coming off the bench, though his numbers are better as a reserve. Then again, the Bulls have been dealing with injuries all season and still own the league's best record at 32-8.

"Something we've always talked about is we have enough in this room to win if we have a guy down," Carlos Boozer said. "We don't want anybody to go down, but we have complete confidence in the guy behind him to step in and fill that role. We had that all last season and again this season."

Given that Hamilton served as the Bulls' major offseason upgrade, though, his inability to stay healthy has to be a concern.

"Hopefully, he'll be OK," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Layups:Joakim Noah is averaging 14.1 rebounds with four double-doubles in the seven-game winning streak. … Two players confirmed a Bulls.com report that Tyler Hansbrough gave Brian Scalabrine a shove shortly after the final buzzer. Scalabrine sank a jumper with 23.7 seconds left to account for the final points. Speculation centered on Pacers coach Frank Vogel taking exception to the Bulls shooting rather than running out the clock. However, the Bulls took possession with 24.9 seconds left, meaning they would have had to take a shot-clock violation. Either way, it's more fodder for a budding rivalry.